The Sunken Continent
by Ariandir
Summary: It is two years since the defeat of the Authority. But now, something is stirring in the darkness; something that could damage the fragile balance between the myraid of worlds. Lyra and Will hear the call; will they answer it? R&R. No flames!
1. A Dream In Two Minds

Author's notes: Greetings all! Isn't it wonderful to have FF.net up and running again? Well worth the wait! Anyhoo, I've just finished reading the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, and I loved it! I cried loads of times, and laughed with sheer joy and relief loads of times too; if you haven't read it, I strongly recommend it! It's almost as good as LOTR...;). But reading those books inspired me, and seeing as (although I pray he does) it doesn't seem very likely that PP will release another book for HDM, I really wanted to write a sequel. Shoot me if it's rubbish, review if it's good. I know how many people have read it and adore it, and the last thing they'd want somebody to do would be to take a great story and set of characters and send them all to hell....metaphorically speaking, of course! So welcome back online everybody; it's been a heck of a tough ride, but we're all back and raring to go! Read and review. We're back in business... 

Disclaimer: Philip Pullman is the wonderful, incredibly talented genius who came up with this story, not me (dammit!). I respect his work and would never intend it any harm (although, knowing me, I might just....y'know....screw up on that...he he..). Thank you, PP! I am not worthy, I am not worthy... 

_It is two years since the defeat of the Authority. Lyra Belacqua, named Lyra Silvertongue by the great Panserbørne king, Iorek Byrnison, and Will Parry, son of John Parry also named Stanislaus Grummand, and bearer of the Subtle Knife have both returned to their own worlds, Lyra unable to read the Alethiometer and Will having broken Æsahættr. Their surviving companions, Dr. Mary Malone, Serafina Pekkala the witch queen, Iorek and of course their dæmons Kirjava and Pantalaimon also returned to their respective places after the war against the Authority. Nothing much has changed since the children's departure. Dust is, though no longer a cause of war, still debated over; the Church, though defeated in its causes, has not been abolished but remains standing, and life goes on much the same as it did before the battle. But things are about to change. A long dormant threat to the delicate, fragile balance between the worlds is stirring in the darkness, unknown to any. But the threat will not stay a secret for much longer, and when it does reveal itself finally, it will reveal itself with devastating consequences. Those that were gone have returned, those that are broken repaired, those that can't read are able, for what destiny and fate have prepared. A disturbance in the very atoms of the air. They have felt it. They are the first to know. A shimmering figure stands alone on the sand dunes in a world distant yet so close to Lyra and Will's own worlds. She is the second to know. Very slowly, two figures begin to materialise out of the cool night air, as though they are being born from Dust itself._

_"Sons of Heaven; welcome back to the material world. You live once more! Come; breathe the fresh air; feel the sand beneath your feet; see the world with your own eyes once more. I call you to rise and be again, Baruch and Balthamos, Sons of Heaven."_

__Will awoke to find Kirjava licking the cold beads of sweat from his forehead with her rough cat-tongue. Reaching out a hand, he buried his fingers in her lustrous, silky dark fur. 

"You were having nightmares again, Will." Kirjava said softly, snuggling closer to the warmth of his body. 

"Not nightmares, Kirja. Just...dreams. Strange dreams though." 

"About what?" 

"I..." Will had to pause to think for a moment. Remembering his dream was like trying to keep water in a cracked basin; it was slowly trickling out of his mind to be lost. "I heard a voice...it sounded like an angel; a female angel, and...I heard my name, and Mary's and Serafina Pekkala's and King Iorek's and..." He stopped. Thinking of Lyra was painful, even after all this time, though he thought of her often. "And Lyra's. And then something about a threat to the balance of the worlds that nobody knew about, and then it..." He stopped again. It was going faster now, but he strained to remember. "It kind of changed to a...a what-do-you-call-it...a...a vision! It was as though I was watching something while it was actually happening. There was a figure there; an angel. I know that because she was shimmering, so she must've been. And then two other angels appeared, and she spoke to them and called them..." 

"Yes?" Kirjava asked softly. 

"Baruch and Balthamos..." Will's voice dropped to a whisper, as though he could hardly believe what he had just said. "Kirja, I'm so certain that wasn't just a dream; it seemed so _real_." 

"Dreams do sometimes." 

"Yes, but this wasn't like any other dream I've had before; I have had really vivid dreams, but this one...it was like I could almost have reached out and touched the sand they were standing on..." 

Will paused, before quietly pushing away the bedcovers, and sliding out of bed, Kirjava leaping gracefully after him. 

Carefully, Will first paced over to his lamp, and silently removed a key from inside the shade, before turning to his desk, hunkering down, and reaching out for one of the drawers. 

He put the key into the lock and turned. He slowly slid the drawer open, and took out a large wooden box that looked as though it might have contained an antique spoon set once. 

Will undid the catches, and lifted the lid. Glinting in the dim light of the street lamp outside his window filtering through the curtains, and nestling on a thick cream cotton pad were the jagged shards of the Subtle Knife. 

Lovingly, almost as if he were touching his own child, Will caressed the broken blade with the remaining fingers on his left hand. The stumps had healed well, and were now covered by a healthy layer of skin. Even the appearance of his maimed hand was a memory of what had happened two years ago. It was as clear in his mind as if he had only done it all yesterday. Finding the window in the air under the Hornbeam trees, meeting Lyra for the first time (he felt a tug at his heartstrings as he remembered this), the agonising pain of losing his fingers, the incredible presence and sensitivity he had felt when he first let his mind flow into the very tip of the knife, the horror he'd felt when he heard that man's neck break, the sharp excruciating pull at his chest he'd felt when they'd crossed over into the world of the dead, the sweetness of his and Lyra's first kiss...yes; he remembered it all. 

"Something's happened, Kirjava." He told his dæmon softly. "I can feel it in the Knife blade; we're being called. The dreams...they're a message. We're being called." 

"And do we intend to answer that call, Will?" Kirjava asked, springing to his shoulder and brushing her long, satiny coat against his ear. 

"Yes, Kirja; we do." 

_The balance has been tipped. The worlds and their inhabitants are in mortal peril..._

_"Lyra! Lyra help us!"_

_"Roger? Roger! Where are you?"_

_"I'm here! With Mr Scoresbee and Mr Parry! Lyra help us! Please!"_

_"Roger, I can't find you! Give me your hand!"_

_"I can't! I can't reach you!"_

_"Lyra, honey? That you?"_

_"Mr Scoresbee!"_

_"Lyra, my girl! Please! You've got to help us! We're just disappearin'! All of us!"_

_"Why? Why?!"_

_"Dang it, I don't know! You've gotta help us Lyra!"_

_Lyra's tears streamed down her face._

_"I can't find you! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry..."_

_"Lyra!" The sound of beating wings, and a harsh female voice came from close to Lyra's ear._

_"Gracious Wings! What's happening?"_

_Lyra looked desperately into the lifeless, hollow slime-clotted eye sockets of the Harpy._

_"Something's happened! It's tipped the balance between the worlds! Thrown the sync! You must do something Lyra!"_

_"What can I do? Please tell me!"_

_Gracious Wings was silent for a moment. Then she stared the child straight in the eyes, and suddenly spoke with a different tone. It most certainly was not her voice; it was deeper, richer, still female, but not the shallow, shrieking, banshee-like voice of the Harpy. It reminded Lyra so much of someone...someone she'd met a long time ago...someone who had been wise beyond belief, yet she had seemed ageless...Xaphania!_

_"Those that are gone have returned,_

_Those that are broken repaired,_

_Those that can't read are able,_

_For what destiny and fate have prepared._

_Come with me, Lyra..."_

_There was a flash of white light, and suddenly, Lyra was standing in a room, away from the cries of her old friends. It was a bedroom, but unlike any other she had ever seen. There was a carpet covering the floor, a desk with an electric lamp and a few scattered, unorganised papers atop it, a wardrobe, a chest of drawers, a cupboard and a single bed. And sitting on the bed, with a huge giant cat curled up in his lap the colour of ink-black, shadow-grey, deep blue and mist-lavender and moonlight-fog, was..._

_"Will! Oh Will! I'm so glad to see you, my dear! You've got to help me..."_

_But Will didn't listen. Infact it appeared as though he didn't even hear her. He was talking to Kirjava, stroking her soft fur, his brow furrowed in thought._

_"You were having nightmares again, Will."_

_"Not nightmares, Kirja. Just...dreams. Strange dreams though."_

_"About what?"_

_"I...I heard a voice...it sounded like an angel; a female angel, and...I heard my name, and Mary's and Serafina Pekkala's and King Iorek's and....and Lyra's."_

_"Yes, Will! I'm here! I'm here!" Lyra tried again, desperately running up to Will, and tugging at his pyjama top sleeve._

_But Will blanked her completely, and continued._

_"And then something about a threat to the balance of the worlds that nobody knew about, and then it... it kind of changed to a...a what-do-you-call-it...a...a vision! It was as though I was watching something while it was actually happening. There was a figure there; an angel. I know that because she was shimmering, so she must've been. And then two other angels appeared, and she spoke to them and called them..."_

_"Yes?"_

_"Baruch and Balthamos...Kirja, I'm so certain that wasn't just a dream; it seemed so real."_

_"Dreams do sometimes."_

_"Yes, but this wasn't like any other dream I've had before; I have had really vivid dreams, but this one...it was like I could almost have reached out and touched the sand they were standing on..."_

_"Yes Will! You're right! This isn't a dream! I'm right here! Oh please, please, please see me!"_

_But instead, he simply ignored her imploring, rose from the bed and walked away._

_A vortex of light, and the angel Xaphania appeared before the weeping Lyra._

_"Have hope, child." She said kindly._

_"How? What am I supposed to do? I don't understand..." Lyra sobbed._

_"All you must remember are my words, Lyra:_

_Those that are gone have returned,_

_Those that are broken repaired,_

_Those that can't read are able,_

_For what destiny and fate have prepared."_

_And then, two other angels appeared either side of Xaphania; two male angels. One was tall, slender and held a distainful expression, though it was mingled with a great sympathy and deep, meaningful love as he looked down upon the girl. The other was slightly shorter and younger than the other, and more powerfully built, his wings huge and sweeping._

_"Do not lose faith, Lyra." Said the second. "We shall endeavour to help you in any way we can, my companion and I."_

_"Trust the boy, Lyra." Said the first. "He will find you."_

_"There." Xaphania followed. "You not only have my word, but the words of Baruch and Balthamos, now risen again and called to your aid. Remember what I have told you, Lyra...it is so important that you do! Remember...remember...remember..."_

__The voice echoed round Lyra's head as she awoke, her cheeks wet with tears, and Pantalaimon looking worriedly into her face. 

"Oh Pan." She hiccoughed. "Roger needs our help! And Mr Scoresbee and Mr Parry! Oh, we just got to help 'em!" 

"Hush." Pantalaimon nuzzled her, licking the salty wetness from her flushed cheeks. 

"I...I hear 'em all calling out to me! Asking me to help 'em! An' I couldn't, Pan! I couldn't find 'em anywhere!" 

"Sshh; it's all right. It was just a dream." 

"That's what Kirjava told Will! But it weren't a dream, Pan! I know it! It was too real!" 

As he comforted Lyra, Pantalaimon suddenly felt a tremble in the air; a disturbance amongst the very atoms themselves, almost to tiny and delicate to detect. And he felt a great sense of dread. Lyra was right. It hadn't been just a dream. It had been a message, calling them. Calling them out of their world. Lyra had been right. Although Pan wasn't ready to admit that out loud just yet. 

Author's notes: Love it? Hate it? Want to tie it to a pole, burn it on a massive bonfire and do a tribal dance round it? Then tell me what you think in your review. Go on; you know you want to...__

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	2. A Bargain With A Stranger

**Author's notes: Yay! Got three reviews already! Thanks loads to Kelsi, Ceres Wunderkind and Vdestiny for those; I'm really grateful to you guys! So here is Chapter 2. Don't have any worries about me not planning to carry this on; I have a whole story coming for you, although it kinda depends on how many reviews I get. If I'm only getting about one every blue moon, then it's obviously not worth keeping up, but hopefully I'll get a few more than that :). I'll say I'm sorry now though, as Chapter 3 won't be up for a while after this, as this week I'm off at National Choir up in Giggleswick (great name!) in Yorkshire, and then I come back for a week, and then I'm in Sicily for two weeks; lucky me. So, get those reviews realin' in from all over town, 'cause there's a new character this chapter...thanks for all praise and reviews so far, *~Arian~* **

"This is the place." Will whispered to Kirjava as they reached the street. The row of Hornbeam trees looked just the same as it had done the very moment he had turned the corner and set eyes on the window in the air that destiny-changing day two years ago, and followed the cat through into the spectre-ridden world of Citegazze. 

The air was empty now, and the street was quiet as Will cautiously made his way into the shade of the Hornbeam trees. 

Almost to make absolutely certain the window wasn't there, Will reached out, and waved his hand through the space, half hoping to feel something there. Nothing. 

"What are you doing?" 

Will started and whipped round to face the speaker, Kirjava on his shoulder hissing and spitting, her claws digging into his flesh. 

"Who are you?" 

"You didn't answer my question: what are you doing?" 

"That's none of your business, but if you must know, I was taking a walk." Will's tone was quick and angry, though his rage was only due to the fact that he had been taken by surprise, and he hadn't wanted to be seen. 

"Ah, but you're not. I can see through lies, you know. You were looking for a way through." 

"A way through to where?" Will was lying through his teeth now, desperate to look as though he was clueless as to what the stranger was talking about. 

"A way through to what indeed! You know perfectly well what I'm talking about, boy! A way through to another world." 

Will felt as though someone had just tipped a bucket of icy water down the back of his shirt. How did they know? 

"Who are you?" He asked suspiciously, reaching up and burying his fingers in Kirjava's fur for reassurance. 

"You first, boy. It's only polite to introduce yourself first." 

"No." Will answered flatly. "I answered your first question, now you answer mine. It's only polite." 

There came a soft cynical laugh, followed by a slow intake of breath. Will shivered a little as he heard the breath hiss slightly as it went in, and wondered what would make it do that. 

"Very well." The reply came after a few seconds. It was a female voice, but hardly recognisable as one. It was harsh, rough and not entirely human sounding. The stranger spoke with a slight accent, although Will couldn't place it. 

"My name, boy, is Aluchhia Fince. Now that you have mine, I might ask for yours, seein' as that was the deal." 

"My name's Will Parry, son of John Parry. But as you're quite obviously not from this world, maybe the name Stanislaus Grummand will mean something more to you." 

"Ah, yes, it does. Now, Will Parry son of Stanislaus Grummand, or John Parry as you call him, why would you be lookin' for a way back through?" 

"Again, I don't see that that's any of your business. And I told you: I'm taking a walk." Will retorted, feeling somewhat more confident and calm as he turned his back on Aluchhia Fince and began walking away. 

"Oh but it is, boy. I happen to know that if you're really doin' what you say you are, you wouldn't've been feelin' around for that window, would you?" 

Will stopped guiltily, and turned to face the speaker again. 

"There isn't much I can say to that." He replied matter-of-factly. "It's quite obvious that you have the advantage in this conversation as you know something about me, and I know nothing about you except your name." 

Aluchhia Fince gave another soft laugh. 

"Quite right. But your answer also confirms my theory. You just as good as told me I was right in thinkin' you weren't just takin' a walk by sayin' I knew somethin' about you."  
Will could have kicked himself. How could he have been so stupid? After all those years experience of making himself invisible and unnoticed, here he was having just been outwitted by a mere stranger. Well, there was nothing he could do now. 

"Yeah, alright!" He hissed heatedly back. "You win! Now can I carry on with what I was doing now?" 

"You could, I suppose, if only that knife of yours wasn't broken." 

Will thumped his clenched fist into his hip with anger. This smart-alec was really starting to get on his nerves. 

"And what concern of yours is it if it is?" 

Although he couldn't see the speaker who was still standing hidden in the shadows, Will had an instinctive feeling that the stranger smiled just at that moment, and it was then that she would choose to reveal herself. He was right, but what he saw couldn't have shocked him more. 

He had been right in thinking that Aluchhia Fince wasn't from his world, and that she wasn't human, but he was not prepared for what stepped out of the shadows infront of him. 

She had pair of over-sized grey cockerel's feet and legs, with fierce spurs sprouting from her backwards-bent knees. Her fingers, which could only just been seen poking out from the ends of her long flaring sleeves, were long and spindly, tapering down to javelin-tip points, and covered in hard, tiny dark-ruby scales, and her whip-like tail was held stiff and straight, and curved gently upwards behind her back; it reminded Will very much of the tails of the Veloceraptors in Jurassic Park . 

Her mane of coarse, thick, storm-coloured hair framed her dark-grey-skinned face; Will couldn't see her facial features too well just then, because they were overshadowed by the huge, wide brim of the crooked, battered old burgundy witch's hat she was wearing. 

Only her steely silver eyes were visible, as they observed everything around her, as bright and sharp as any hawk's; they looked straight through your lies and false, fixed smiles and saw what you were really thinking. Will was just glad he didn't have a particularly guilty conscience right then. 

When her face could be seen, it was neither pretty nor entirely human. She had a large, hooked nose, like a raptor's beak, under which was her peculiar mouth; a strange, twisted slash above her sharp chin, and out of which occasionally flicked a forked serpent's tongue. 

Her ears were large, leathery and like a bat's. In fact, they were so large that Aluchhia had had to cut two holes in her hat brim to allow them to poke through. 

The only words that sprang into Will's mind when he tried to describe Aluchhia Fince were dragon, bird, cockatrice and basilisk, none of which truly fitted, so he decided that she was somewhere in the middle of all four. 

She was wearing a jacket of stiff burgundy leather, polished until it shone but covered in scratches and blemishes, just like her hide. Around her waist was a tightly fastened brown belt with a huge gold buckle at the front. Over the jacket, she wore a kind of bib made out of some thick, strong navy blue cloth, and it bore a faded yellow symbol of three outwards facing spearheads, all joined at the centre. She wore no trousers or skirt, but the hard, stiff bottom of the coat flared out from beneath the belt like a very short kilt which reached down to mid-thigh, leaving the rest of her chicken-like, grey, scaly legs bare. No matter how hard he tried, Will couldn't imagine her attire to be all that comfortable, no matter how worn and old it looked. 

The creature walked forwards towards him, picking her huge four-toed feet up off the ground and placing them cautiously down again, so that her walk was a little reminiscent of a peacock's strut. 

She glanced about her with those cold, metallic eyes as she approached Will, making sure no one was around to see them. 

When she was satisfied that no one else was in the street, she quickened her walk and came confidently forward, until her face was only inches from Will's, though he still couldn't make out her face. 

"I'm willin' to make a bargain with you, Will." Her tone was quiet and hoarse. Her breath didn't smell unpleasant and it certainly didn't reek of anything rotten, rather it smelt of must and old cloth. 

"When you an' that girl Lyra closed all the windows two years ago, I'd lost my way during my wanderin's and ended up here. As a result of you two closin' them, I got trapped here, and for seven hundred and twenty days, I've been trying to hide in this city; tryin' to go unnoticed and remain unknown." 

"I know how that feels." Will mumbled. 

"So, as I said," Aluchhia continued. "I'm willin' to make a deal with you. I happen to know some things about smithy's work; I won't say I'm the best there is, but I know enough to mend that knife and I'm all you got, so that's my part said. If I mend that knife, you'll be able to get where you're going to, but I'll mend it on one condition and one condition only: when you go through and leave this world, you take me with you. I'm sick of hiding in shadows and only comin' out at night. I haven't seen the Sun for two years, boy. I want to feel warmth on my skin again, 'cause I'm cold." 

Aluchhia paused, and took a deep breath, before looking Will straight in the eye. 

"So what do you say?" 

Kirjava, who had up until now stayed silent and sat at Will's heel, stood up and spoke, her green eyes smouldering. 

"How do we know we can trust your word?" 

"I don't lie." Aluchhia replied solemnly. "I can see through other peoples' lies, and I don't tell 'em. I never have done, and I never will. You can have my word on that and all." 

Kirjava looked up at Will, who looked back. 

"What do you want to do, Will?" His d**æ**mon asked. 

"It's our only option Kirja." The boy replied. "If we don't get the knife mended, we don't go anywhere." 

The cat nodded once in understanding. 

Will turned back to Aluchhia, who stood listening patiently. 

"Done." Will said, offering his hand out to the creature. 

Aluchhia took it with her long-fingered scaly one and they shook on the deal. The corners of Aluchhia's eyes were creased in a smile as she did so, but it wasn't a warm sort of smile. It was more like the sort of smile someone develops when they have spent their life living in a world that is cruel, judging and insulting to them, and their humour becomes sardonic, and good things are few and far between. It wasn't an evil or a sinister smile, nor a cold or brutal one, but more of a cynical, matter-of-fact smile that said 'How long is this good thing going to last for before it disappears like all the others?'. 

Will recognised that smile, because it was almost identical to his own, and felt a sudden surge of empathy for his new companion; a brief second of strange understanding passed between them for a fleeting moment, and Will knew she wasn't a liar. 

"So..." He spoke again as they released hands. "When can you start on the knife?" 

"Just find me a conspicuous place to do it, and I can start right now." 


End file.
